The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-11-27

The Rifles OF the Future.
Two features In infantry rifles are o alb
sorbing attention In all parts Of the world,
the calibre and the repeating apparatus.
France, Germany, Austria, England, Hol-
land. and Italy are all engaged In reducing
the calibre, and here In our own country Gen.
BENET says in a recent reportthat the ques-
ton Of q reduced calibre for small arms Is now
under consideration by the Department.
a statement which speaks volumes. With a
smaller calibre are Joined a steel-cased bull
let and o compressed powder, or else far
more powerful powder, which gives greater
range and penetration, while many adj
ditional cartridges Of the smaller size can
obviously be carried by the soldier. This
last advantage Is the more important. since
the tendency to fire too rapidly is increased
by the repeating arms.
Germany, in order to supply her army
with magazine guns ahead Of France, kept
her factories at Erfurth, Spandau, and Dant-
zic working day and night; and nov that
she has completed the arming Of her
troops at large cost, she is to begin all over
again with a new small-bore rifle, because
the French have q small bore. The present
German repeating arm, which may do for
the reserve and militia, Is the Mauser
of sixteen years ago, refurnished with
o magazine Of eight cartridges, pushed
by a spring into the barrel. Col. AR
BUTHNoT, superintendent of the Enfield
factory, considers it the worst re-
peater he has seen. It Is certainly both
heavy and Ill balanced, although it has the
advantage that a simple movement turns it
to a single loader, and it requires no new
manual Of drill. But 1t Is doomed before it
has been really used, because a better gun Is
found in France. The calibre Of the new
German rifle Is to be 8 millimetres, which
Is only 1916 inches, while that Of h Mauser
Is II millimetres. or 1852 inches.
The Lebel rifle, adopted by France, Is OF
only .SO7 inches calibre, and carries eight
cartridges in a magazine under the barrel.
Its sharp-pointed steel bullet, about the size
OF a pea, driven at a wonderful velocity by a
new smokeless powder, has great range and
accuracy. The soldier can carry nearly
twice as many OF It's small cartridges as Of
the old style. The trajectory is almost flat
for ranges customary. with a consequent
gain In precision; the recoil Is scarcely per-
ceptible. and even the noise of the report is
trlHing. The French Pralon rifle Is another
remarkable small bore, Of 1916 calibre.
Italy has a small calibre rifle under consld-
Grafton In the invention Of Capt. FREDDI. 1t
is of 1925 inches bore, and elects the empty
cartridge, opens the chamber, and cocks the
piece. The Pieri Is OF about the same bore,
but Of a greater muzzle velocity, this gun and
the Lebel and the HELLER being the most re-
markable Of the recent inventions in that
respect. The HELLER Is very light, and is
OF only 1906 inches calibre.
The Schulhof repeater, the invention of an
Austrian, has been tried with much thorough
ness in England. 1t takes ten cartridges, in
troduced from a cardboard box, and can also
be used as q single loader. 1t would cost
less than the English Martini-Henry. But
England, out Of the large number Of maya
zine guns open to her, is trying by prefer
once the Improved Lee and the Lee-Burton.
The Lee, so favorably known in the United
States, has a detachable magazine, and this
is preferred by some experts; but the British
apparently decide In favor Of having the
hopper fixed, lest the movable one should DO
dropped In the heat OF action. They follow tho
movement for small calibres by fixing on a 81
bore, whatever the selection Of the magazine
rifle system. The large charge Of compressed
powder and long bullet will secure high
velocity, fiat trajectory, and accuracy Of
shooting. Great Britain has had an expert
ence something like Germany's. since she
had Just introduced the new Enleld-Mar-
tini 40 calibre as an improvement on her
Martini Henry, which has a As bore, like our
Springfield. Over 100000 have been COM
pleted. with new sword bayonets, but the
small calibre will supersede them.
Austria's new repeater, the Mannlicher,
fires accurately and rapidly, and can be
held at the shoulder until its series Of
cartridges are delivered. It's detachable
magazine is carried In a frame which has an
ingenious apparatus for feeding the car
tridges into the barrel. In its freedom from
alteration OF aim between shots and rapidity
Of loading, 1t resembles tho Lee, but the lat
ter can be used as a single loader, while the
Mannlicher cannot. Austria is also among
the recent converts to the small calibre,
which will allow more cartridges than the
original Mannlicher. The Styria manufac-
tory has received orders to deliver no more
OF the large calibre rifles.
Other ~well-known systems are the Hotch-
KISS, CndIec-Iteect, NlncHeSteT, SOlu, anu
Spencer OF American invention, with the
Kropatschek, vetterli, Jarmann. and others
In Europe. Switzerland was the first coun-
try to fully arm her troops with reporters,
adopting the Vetterli, which is the heaviest
OF all the magazine guns, Weighing 10 pounds
8 ounces, or even 9 ounces more than the
Mauser. Its calibre Is Ala. The Jarmann Is
the repeater OF Norway and Sweden,
and Is Of about the weight of the
Mauser, with high muzzle velocity, and the
smallest calibre, 1897, among the older magi-
zine arms. The Kropatschek has for years
been used as a repeater in the French navy;
but for her land forces France had made
notifications rather OF the Gras rifle, on the
systems Of LEE, ROBIN, PICARD, and Others,
prior to her selection OF the Lebel. The
Picard seems little affected by the presence
of dust or sand. Portugal has the Guedes, a
modification of the Kropatschek, with a
small calibre. 1913, and high velocity. Italy
was very rapidly arming her troops with a